Thread: Trump Tweet on South African Land Overhauls Draws Government’s Ire

Trump Tweet on South African Land Overhauls Draws Government’s Ire

Rand falls after Trump says U.S. is looking at South Africa's efforts to overhaul land ownership


A farmer inspects his crop outside Cofimvaba, South Africa. A tweet by President Trump on South Africa’s measures to address land prompted a critical response from the country’s government. PHOTO: SIPHIWE SIBEKO/REUTERS


By Gabriele Steinhauser

Updated Aug. 23, 2018 6:58 a.m. ET

JOHANNESBURG—South Africa’s government on Thursday criticized a tweet by President Donald Trump in which he said he asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to study efforts to overhaul land ownership and “large scale killing of farmers” in Africa’s most-developed economy.

Mr. Trump’s overnight tweet referenced a report by Fox News host Tucker Carlson attacking the U.S. government’s stance on the South African measures, which he suggested was too lax.

South Africa’s rand fell against the dollar after the tweet, and was 1.3% lower in Thursday morning trade.

The ruling African National Congress has said it plans to change the constitution to explicitly allow the expropriation of land without compensation in an effort to overcome deep inequalities in land ownership the country, which shed white-minority rule in 1994. White South Africans, who make up around 8% of the country’s population, still own 73% of agricultural land, according to estimates from farmers association Agri SA.

“South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past,” the government said in a message from its official Twitter account Thursday morning. “South Africa will speed up the pace of land reform in a careful and inclusive manner that does not divide our nation.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa and other ANC officials have said any expropriations would be handled with care to avoid eroding property rights, food security and agricultural production.

Under South African law, land owners would also have the right to challenge any government action to take away land without compensation in court.

So far, agrarian reform has been led by voluntary sales by white farmers and other property owners to the government at market prices under a policy known as “willing seller, willing buyer.”

Mr. Ramaphosa’s spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr. Trump’s tweet. South African Foreign Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said she instructed her department to seek clarification from the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria on “unfortunate comments” on Twitter by Mr. Trump based on “false information.”

Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. “South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers.” @TuckerCarlson @FoxNews
9:28 PM - Aug 22, 2018

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy confirmed the request for clarification from the ministry.

The U.S. has had a warm relationship with South Africa, which embraced liberal democracy and free-market policies after the end of apartheid. Last month, former President Barack Obama was the keynote speaker at celebrations of what would have been the 100th birthday of the late Nelson Mandela. But the government in Pretoria has complained about U.S. tariffs on South African steel and aluminum introduced as part of Mr. Trump’s efforts to revive manufacturing at home.

Answering questions on land-reform efforts in Parliament Wednesday, Mr. Ramaphosa criticized South African interest groups who he said “are going around spreading lies and rumors.”

“Running overseas and saying the ANC is out for land grabs. There is no such thing,” he told lawmakers. “The ANC wants to ensure that there is land reform that is going to lead to the growth of our economy and agricultural growth and if we embrace this approach we are going to restore the dignity of our people."

Violent attacks on white South African farmers have grabbed headlines in local and foreign media in recent years, prompting protests from farmers and white Afrikaner interest groups. However, a study released in June by Agri citing police crime statistics said that the number killed on farms has declined over the past 20 years, and reached a low of 47 people killed in 2017/18.

The number of attacks on farms—including crimes such as rape, robbery and causing bodily harm—has increased over the past two years, counting 561 attacks in 2017/18, but is still far off a 2001/02 high of 1,069 attacks.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-t...ire-1535017460

“South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past,” the government said in a message from its official Twitter account Thursday morning. “South Africa will speed up the pace of land reform in a careful and inclusive manner that does not divide our nation.”

“South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past,” the government said in a message from its official Twitter account Thursday morning. “South Africa will speed up the pace of land reform in a careful and inclusive manner that does not divide our nation.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa and other ANC officials have said any expropriations would be handled with care to avoid eroding property rights, food security and agricultural production.

Under South African law, land owners would also have the right to challenge any government action to take away land without compensation in court.

So far, agrarian reform has been led by voluntary sales by white farmers and other property owners to the government at market prices under a policy known as “willing seller, willing buyer.”

Mr. Ramaphosa’s spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr. Trump’s tweet. South African Foreign Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said she instructed her department to seek clarification from the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria on “unfortunate comments” on Twitter by Mr. Trump based on “false information.”

Someone is not telling the truth..


South Africa begins seizing white-owned farms

SOUTH Africa has targeted the first two farms for unilateral seizure after the owners refused an offer of one-tenth of the land’s value.

Frank Chung@franks_chung

news.com.au
AUGUST 21, 2018
7:36AM

THE South African government has begun the process of seizing land from white farmers.

Local newspaper City Press reports two game farms in the northern province of Limpopo are the first to be targeted for unilateral seizure after negotiations with the owners to purchase the properties stalled.

While the government says it intends to pay, owners Akkerland Boerdery wanted 200 million rand ($18.7 million) for the land — they’re being offered just 20 million rand ($1.87 million).

“Notice is hereby given that a terrain inspection will be held on the farms on April 5, 2018 at 10am in order to conduct an audit of the assets and a handover of the farm’s keys to the state,” a letter sent to the owners earlier this year said.
Akkerland Boerdery obtained an urgent injunction to prevent eviction until a court had ruled on the issue, but the Department of Rural Development and Land Affairs is opposing the application.

“What makes the Akkerland case unique is that they apparently were not given the opportunity to first dispute the claim in court, as the law requires,” AgriSA union spokeswoman Annelize Crosby told the paper.

Kallie Kriel@kalliekriel

These farms are on the goverment's #farmlist that ⁦@afriforum⁩ exposed. And yet government still denies that the list exists... but it is now clear that government is lying to the public. https://m.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/state-takes-first-farm-20180818 …
1:25 AM - Aug 19, 2018

It comes as the South African government pushes ahead with plans to amend the country’s constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.

The seizures are intended to test the ability of the government to take land under existing laws, which the ruling African National Congress has previously stated is allowable if “in the public interest”.

Earlier this month, City Press reported the government had drawn up a list of 139 farms it planned to seize “to test out” section 25 of the constitution.

The newspaper said employees at the department had been ordered to press ahead with the process at the Land Claims Court.

If the seizures go ahead, it would be the first time the state refuses to pay market value for land. Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the ANC has followed a “willing seller, willing buyer” process to redistribute white-owned farms to blacks.
A 2017 government audit found white people owned 72 per cent of private farmland in South Africa. According to the 2011 census, there are about 4.6 million white people in South Africa, accounting for 8.9 per cent of the population.
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa would not reveal details of the farms targeted and attempted to play down investor fears, saying the proposed seizures were “tied to addressing the injustices of the past”.

“Over time I think the markets as well as investors will appreciate that what we are doing is creating policy certainty and creating the conditions for future investment,” he told City Press.

Afriforum, a civil-rights group representing the white Afrikaner minority, subsequently released what it claimed to be a leaked list of 190 farms “being circulated in the department”, inviting farmers to check if they were on it and asking them to get in touch “so that we can prepare for a joint legal strategy”.

The government hit back, with department spokeswoman Linda Page telling News24the list was a fake. “We don’t know where they got it from,” she said. “There is no truth to this document.”

News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson slammed Afriforum for “disgusting fearmongering in the highest degree”. “Will Afriforum take action against (deputy CEO) Ernst Roets for distributing fake news?” he tweeted. “Will they apologise? We need cool heads — not arsonists — in this debate.”

On Sunday, Mr Roets tweeted that the two farms — Salaita and Lukin — were the first two names on Afriforum’s list.

“So the debate about the authenticity of the list is settled then?” he said. “We hope that the gravity of the state’s plans for expropriation is understood and that people will see through the dishonesty of the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development.

“We hope that the attempts to discredit the legitimacy of the list has now been proven to be malicious for good. We shouldn’t be misled by those who sing Kumbaya while the state is planning to expropriate property.”

AgriSA had described Afriforum’s release of the list as “irresponsible” and “inflammatory”, saying “cursory background research showed” several inaccuracies, including that a number of the farms were joint ventures co-owned by black people.

Earlier this month, cattle farmer Jo-an Engelbrecht told the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent his farm just outside Johannesburg was now “worth zero”.

“We had several auctions in the last two or three weeks cancelled because there was no people interested in buying the land,” he said. “Why would you buy a farm to know the government’s going to take it?”

https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/world-economy/south-africa-begins-seizing-whiteowned-farms/news-story/8937f899bd3f131bfc4ffb648ea5c53b

On August 20th..
South Africa begins seizing white-owned farms in land redistribution program



South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said three weeks ago, after a two-day ANC meeting, that the country’s dominant party will push ahead to amend the constitution to allow for pure expropriation of land. (Associated Press) more >


By Victor Morton - The Washington Times - Monday, August 20, 2018

The South African government has begun the process of seizing white-owned farmland, reportedly filing legal papers seeking to expropriate two farms for one-tenth of their estimated value.

The filings, involving two game farms in the northern province of Limpopo, come as the African National Congress government is seeking to amend the country’s constitution to allow outright seizures of land with no compensation. The ANC’s leader also has recently argued that pure expropriation is allowed anyway now “in the public interest.”

According to the local City Press in South Africa, the Akkerland Boerdery wants 200 million Rand for the two pieces of land (about $13.8 million), as it had been assessed in 2011.

But the government wants to take it for 20 million, without the benefit of a court’s judgment of the land’s value — something supposedly legally guaranteed.

“What makes the Akkerland case unique is that they apparently were not given the opportunity to first dispute the claim in court, as the law requires,” AgriSA union spokeswoman An elize Crosby told the paper.

The seizures are part of a broad program of land redistribution that the post-Apartheid government has committed to speeding up, saying the country’s current wealth distribution reflects theft from black tribes under the whites-only governments of the early- and mid-20th century.

A 2017 government audit found that whites, who are 9 percent of South Africa’s population, own 72 percent of the country’s private farmland.

Section 25 of South Africa’s current Constitution allows for land seizures with compensation, but the City Press reported that the ANC-dominated government had drawn up a list of 139 farms it planned to seize “to test out” that provision.The Akkerland Boerdery was on that list, which the government denied was authentic.

But if the ANC gets its way on another front, Akkerland might not even get the 20 million Rand.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said three weeks ago, after a two-day ANC meeting, that the country’s dominant party will push ahead to amend the constitution to allow for pure expropriation of land, according to a report in News Corp Australia.

“It has become patently clear that our people want the constitution to be more explicit about expropriation of land without compensation, as demonstrated in public hearings,” Mr. Ramaphosa said in a video message to “fellow South Africans, comrades, friends.”

The South African parliament voted in February to send its Constitutional Review Committee a motion to work on such a measure introduced by the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters party with ANC support.

Mr. Ramaphosa said the ANC would make sure the amendment “outlines more clearly the conditions under which expropriation of land without compensation can be effected.”

But in another warning shot to white farmers and a possible foreshadowing of Seizures even beyond Akkerland Boerdery, the president hinted that the government might not even see itself as needing that amendment.

A “proper reading” of the constitution and its current property clause, he said, “enables the state to effect expropriation of land with just and equitable compensation, and also expropriation without compensation in the public interest.”

Mr. Rampahosa, defending that position, said that the state having the power to seize property for no compensation will encourage economic growth.

“The ANC reaffirmed its position that a comprehensive land reform program that enables equitable access to land will unlock economic growth by bringing more land in South Africa to full use and enable the productive participation of millions more South Africans in the economy,” he said.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...e-owned-farms/

DONALD J. TRUMP!

YOU KEEP OUT OF IT!

THIS IS NOT OUR BUSINESS!

WE ARE NOT THE POLICE OR ATM MACHINE FOR THE WORLD!

NO TWEETS...DO NOT GIVE THEM OUR MONEY

AND DO NOT BRING THEM HERE

THEY CAN GO TO SOME OTHER COUNTRY

YOU FOCUS ON OUR INNER CITIES AND CLEAN THEM UP!

WE DON'T WANT THEM!

I agree Beezer! Trump needs to stay completely out of the South Africa whatever it is that's going on or may in the future, this is a problem and issue for them to settle on their own.

Stay out of Africa

Stay out of Venezuela

Stay out of Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala

Stay out of ALL these countries!

That is their problem and we do not want their people!

They need to have civil war and fight their own freaking battles! Not flee here! Keep the hell out!


NO MORE OF OUR MONEY, NO AID AND NO OATMEAL!

TRUMP...YOU FOCUS ON REBUILDING OUR INNER CITIES

GIVE THESE INNER CITIES TRASH BAGS, PAINT AND TOOLS TO CLEAN UP THEIR MESS THEMSELVES! DO NOT DO IT FOR THEM!

IF THEY ARE ON WELFARE AND FOOD STAMPS...THEY MUST WORK FOR THAT WELFARE CLEANING UP THEIR OWN CESSPOOL THEY LIVE IN

BUILD THAT WALL

FIX OUR WATER, SEWER, ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS, ROADS AND BRIDGES

FIX OUR VISA AND IMMIGRATION TRACKING SYSTEMS

WE NEED TO CLEAN UP OUR OWN BACKYARD...NOT STICK OUR NOSES IN OTHERS!

SLAM THAT DAMN BORDER SHUT TO ALL OF THEM!

PASS THE BATON...LET GERMANY TAKE THEM AND PAY FOR THEM!

AND GET US OUT OF AFGHANISTAN! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

SEND THESE DAMN REFUGEES, ILLEGAL ALIENS, TPS, ASYLUM LIARS HOME!